More schools
meet fire code

Violations among public schools
drop by more than half in
the latest school year

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By Rosemarie Bernardo
rbernardo@starbulletin.com

Fire code violations among public schools statewide have apparently dropped by more than half from the previous school year, according to a 2000-2001 report done by the Fire Inspection Program of the Department of Education.

Sixty-three violations were reported so far for this past school year, compared with 137 violations during the 1999-2000 school year.

The report also showed violations have been declining since the 1998-1999 school year, when 201 violations were reported.

Thirty-nine out of 220 schools statewide failed the fire inspection this year. And the DOE has not yet received the reports from the Honolulu Fire Department on 36 other schools, said Raynor Minami, director for the Facilities & Support Services Branch.

Results of the inspections were released yesterday during a state Board of Education meeting at the Queen Liliuokalani Building.

Minami said there were only minor violations. One that has education officials concerned is the electrical deficiencies in schools.

The report said: "Work of upgrading electrical power systems still falls short of providing for technological requirements of schools. This shortcoming does not, however, permit schools to continue to 'piggyback' extension chords onto power strips, further compromising the safety of building occupants."

Minami said projects have been initiated to address the concerns.

"In the older schools there's one outlet in the front and one outlet in the back," Minami said.

Additional outlets have been added to some schools that are able to handle the electrical capacity.

The Honolulu district had the highest percentage of schools passing the inspections.

Schools on the Big Island had the highest number of violations, 27; Windward Oahu had the lowest number of violations, one.

Also released at yesterday's meeting were the results of separate inspections conducted by the DOE. All 253 schools received an "acceptable and "very good" rating.

Officials looked at six categories: ground interior, building interior, building exterior, health and safety, furniture and equipment, and sanitation. More than 1,500 volunteers spent their time evaluating the schools.

Sixteen percent, or 41 of the schools, achieved a perfect rating of 18. Fifty-four percent, or 137 of the schools, received a score between 16 to 18.

However, Minami said he and other officials would like to "look at the standards, reassess the standards and appropriately establish them so that it fosters improvements in the school."

"We can do better. I know we can," said Minami.

Currently, the Central Services Division of the state Department of Accounting and General Services and the Operations and Maintenance Section are reviewing each school inspection report and are planning follow-up meetings.